Regina to host Lightning, Senators pre-season game

After a 29-year absence, the NHL is returning to Regina for a pre-season contest featuring the Tampa Bay Lightning and Ottawa Senators on Sept. 21.

The venue will be Regina's hockey arena, the Brandt Centre.

The last time the league skated on Regina ice was in 1990, when the Winnipeg Jets and St. Louis Blues played a game.

"Our players love playing in Canada," Brian Lawton, general manager of the Tampa Bay team said in a news release issued Monday.

There will be some Saskatchewan home-grown talent on the ice: Carter Ashton from Saskatoon for the Lightning and Jared Cowan from Allan, Sask., for the Senators

First dibs on game tickets will be allotted to season ticket holders of the home-town Regina Pats hockey club and people who bought tickets for the World Junior championship games, which will take place in Regina and Saskatoon at Christmas time.

Those people will have to make their purchases by Friday, after which tickets will be opened up to the general public sales at a starting price of $79.50, plus fees.